Back At It

Sticking low to the vegetation, I snuck forwards and kept my eyes glued to the band of Goblins that meandered around the clearing, their red skin blending in somewhat with the red and violet leaves as they grunted and growled at one another, sticking to their 'campsite'.

A large fire was haphazardly thrown together in the middle of the clearing, and a few Hobgoblins tended to the deer and wild boar carcasses that roasted above the flames, the scent of sizzling fat and charred flesh filling the air with pervasive ease... which made it easier for me to sneak forwards without being detected.

The clearing was small, but it was packed with monsters as they prepared to feast upon some wild animals, and it was thanks to Paci's sharp nose that we managed to find this place to further add to our total haul of Goblin ears.

The plan had been to have Inga continue mapping the area out whilst cutting down any monsters in our path, but after Paci got a whiff of something cooking and the scent of a large amount of monsters, we decided that we could map things out after taking on this small camp, going for the direct rewards instead of the subjective value of the map, which most teams were making.

Now here I was, shrouded in a haze as I casted [Mirage] on myself, concealing my appearance amongst the red leaves around me whilst the scent was covered up by the fire, leaving only sound and touch for the monsters in terms of ways they could reasonably sense me, and I happened to have a rather light foot, so I was confident that I could do as I pleased here.

A few Goblins were mingling around the edge of the clearing, and I couldn't help but smile a little as I approached one, picking the one that was mostly on its own and out of sight to try something...

With my charisma stat going up, my spells should have become a little bit stronger - specifically my Fae spells, which relied entirely on my charisma stat.

Activating [Fae Voice] and [Illusion] at the same time, I targeted the Goblin in front of me and whispered "Come here..." to it, adding a seductive twinge to my whisper as I tried to lure it away from its peers.

It looked up in surprise, searching for the source of the voice as curiosity began to take root in its mind, the Goblin wanting to know who had spoken to it.

[Fae Voice] helped me plant a suggestion inside its mind, while I used [Illusion] to conceal my voice as best I could from the others, hoping to make this as stealthy as possible.

"Step into the forest..."

The Goblin blinked before nodding, taking a step forwards and leaving the safety of the clearing behind, its peers none the wiser.

Step after step the Goblin walked deeper into the forest, until eventually it stopped as it looked around, trying to find me still as I whispered "Good little Goblin...", clearly hoping that whomever was speaking to it was going to satisfy its carnal urges...

But, instead of a helping hand with its disgusting body, the Goblin gurgled on blood as I slit its throat, my dagger slicing cleanly through its leather flesh as I killed it silently and quickly, lowering it to the ground and leaving it there as I returned to the clearing.

I could feel Inga's gaze on me as the Aviankin watched me from the trees, her perch high up in the air making her completely undetectable to those who weren't looking for anyone, the woman's longbow ready to sing as she kept track of me.

Below her were Paci and Victor, the two waiting for the signal to charge forwards and take the camp by storm; the problem was, we needed to cull the population a little bit more before rushing in, hence why I was slinking around.

Repeating this with a pair of Goblins this time, I lured them into the forest and used [Root Spiral] to stab one in the neck whilst I slit the others throat, making short work of them as well before going back, continuing to lure as many as I could whilst they were distracted by the cooking meat.

Displaying their simplistic nature, the Goblins didn't notice something was wrong until the fifth Goblin was dragged into the forest, and even then they just looked around before shrugging; the seventh was when they alerted the Hobgoblins, who got to watch as I leapt out of the bushes with my falchion in one hand and a thorn whip in the other.

Instantly an arrow arced quietly down into the clearing, thunking into the cranium of one of the Hobgoblins before another followed shortly after, piercing the spine of the next.

Stabbing a Goblin in the chest, I cracked the thorny whip and cut a deep gash across another's face, leaving behind three thorns as the Goblin dropped to the ground with a shout of agony, clawing at its face and dealing more damage to itself as it tried to remove the thorns.

My falchion pulled back and left a glittering arc of blood across the grass as I slashed it forwards, chopping through most of Goblin's neck as I continued to move forwards, my momentum giving me power as I surprised the monsters.

Victor rushed in next, his large axe raised and cleaving down towards the head of a Hobgoblin, while Paci followed closely behind, her spear piercing the skull of a Goblin as she lanced it forwards.

One moment the camp was peaceful, and the next it descended into bloody violence as we launched ourselves towards the Goblins, cutting them down and ridding the world of more disgusting monsters.

I might not have the notifications anymore, but knowing that each time my blade rose and fell and the whip cracked I was receiving experience to get stronger made me giddy, and I found each kill easier than the last, my mind slowly but surely adapting to this world.

A world where the strong survive, and the weak can only hope to make it to another day; and I wasn't going to let myself remain weak.